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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26305966">The Day the Universe Took Things Into its Own Hands</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/overunderachiever/pseuds/overunderachiever'>overunderachiever</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Soulmate September 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>"just friends" to qpps, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aromantic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Aromantic Logic | Logan Sanders, College Setting, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Mild Angst, Multi, Panic Attacks, Platonic love confessions, Queerplatonic Relationships, Soulmarks, but it doesn't cause conflict, slight amount of miscomunication, the author has strong feelings about types of love, why is that not a tag</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:00:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,908</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26305966</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/overunderachiever/pseuds/overunderachiever</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan and Virgil have been closer than best friends for years but Virgil can't work up the courage to tell Logan how much he loves him, and Logan doesn't know whether it needs saying. They have been dancing around the subject of their relationship for months.</p><p>Eventually the universe takes the problem into its own hands.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anxiety | Virgil Sanders &amp; Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Soulmate September 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872199</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Day the Universe Took Things Into its Own Hands</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I had the very vague idea for something like this for a while and when I saw the prompt decided I had to do this with analogical. QPRs of this relationship have a special place in my heart for reasons that are many and varied so I hope I did this justice.</p><p>Oh, and in case it's not clear, they are in college, sharing an apartment.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Today's the day" Virgil spoke to himself, running the shower. "I'm gonna tell him today. No backing out this time. No false starts. I'm going to do it."</p><p>It was the same thing he'd said to himself yesterday morning...and the day before that...and the day before that...and...</p><p>Ok to be honest he'd been planning to say it every morning for over a month but today felt <em>different</em>. Never mind that <em>every</em> day felt different, that wasn't the point.</p><p>It wasn't his fault he hadn't been able to tell Logan yet! Stuff just got in the way. Like sudden illness, or the time the bathroom flooded, or when Logan lost his favourite tie, or when Virgil's black ring went down a drain, or emailing back and forth with the student welfare team about repeat soul-status discrimination. Or all the times Virgil had just flat out lost the tiny amount of courage he'd been able to muster up while giving himself a pep talk in the shower.</p><p>About a week back, he'd gotten very close to succeeding, getting as far as "Logan, we've been best friends for five years now and-" before Logan suddenly realised they were both late for their next classes and asked to postpone the conversation for another time. Virgil had been very guilty relieved about the interruption. It was such a cliché way to start a conversation like that and he didn't want Logan to think he was a complete dork.</p><p>Yeah that was totally the reason. Virgil wasn't a coward at all.</p><p>No, today he was going to tell Logan just how much he loved him and that he wanted an official relationship with him. Logan wouldn't take that the wrong way would he? God, that would be really awkward if he thought it was a <em>romantic</em> confession. But, Virgil reassured himself, any misunderstandings would easily be cleared up and once it was done, it was done. They were already closer than best friends, lived together, knew each other better than anyone else, were really emotionally close. All Virgil was doing was saying a few little words they hadn't said before, and putting an official label on whatever society-defying <em>thing</em> their relationship was.</p><p>It wasn't that terrifying. He could do this.</p><p>-----</p><p>Virgil could absolutely not do this.</p><p>Nuh-uh, no way, not in a million years, never.</p><p>What if Logan didn't actually love him the same way Virgil did?</p><p>(That was ridiculous, of course Logan loved Virgil. Why else would he have moved in with him, and stayed through all the shit the two of them put up with, and hung out with him basically 24/7.)</p><p>What if Logan didn't want to put an official label on their relationship?</p><p>(Logan loved labels and definitions, and he said so often.)</p><p>What if he secretly thought that only soulmates should be in official relationships and soulmate-less people like him and Virgil were meant to be alone in every way?</p><p>(Highly unlikely given literally every one of Logan's previous actions and loudly vocalised opinions, ever.)</p><p>But Virgil was very tired and also a college student so you can imagine the kind of stress he was under.</p><p>Clearly it was just not meant to happen, he decided, lying face first on his bed and trying not to scream. It was useless to try. Obviously in not giving Virgil a soulmate, and then sending Logan his way, the universe had decided he was destined to a life of being with his best friend and platonic love of his life without ever actually being able to tell him how much he loved him, or being able to ask if living together and understanding each other and occasionally falling asleep curled up together was actually classed as a queer-platonic relationship.</p><p>By this point the universe was getting fed up.</p><p>-----</p><p>Logan was very confused.</p><p>It was rather difficult to tell if he was platonically in love with Virgil when all the descriptions and parameters of "true love" he had been able to find were centred around romantic love only and usually assumed the person you were in love with was your soulmate. Society's definition of love was highly inconvenient for two soulmate-less aromantics like them.</p><p>Was wanting to spend the rest of your life caring for another person enough to say you loved them? Probably.</p><p>Did Virgil feel the same way when he declared that socialising and affection sounded fake and then promptly spent the rest of the day lying on top of Logan, on the sofa, listening to music, and napping? Possibly.</p><p>Was it safe to assume the two of them were already in a queer-platonic relationship or should Logan check? Was that even what Virgil wanted? Logan had no fucking clue.</p><p>This was a problem Logan had no idea how to address. What should he hypothesise and how should he go about testing it? What data should be collected? When Virgil had said "Logan, we've been best friends for five years now and-", what on earth was he about to say?</p><p>Logan's only current plan of action was "wait and see" and it was a plan he hated.</p><p><em>Oh boy</em> was the universe getting fed up. They needed a push in the right direction.</p><p>-----</p><p>Virgil wasn't even going to bother trying that day. His undying platonic love for Logan would have to remain unspoken.</p><p>He got into the shower and focussed his pep talk on how he was not going to even open tumblr until he'd done at least one class assignment, and he was going to go to bed by midnight. Virgil wasn't really sure why he bothered with all these promises to himself if he knew full well he wasn't going to keep them.</p><p>He'd make a good politician he thought sardonically.</p><p>As he climbed out the shower, and tired to throw on a towel without freezing, out the corner of his eye Virgil caught sight of a purple bruise on his shoulder. Odd. He didn't remember hitting his shoulder on anything recently.</p><p>Virgil turned to the mirror, twisting to get a clear view of the mark...and froze.</p><p>That was not a bruise.</p><p>If Virgil didn't know better, he'd say it was a soul mark, but that couldn't be right! He was twenty years old, these things were supposed to appear at like age 12! Why the hell would the universe give him a soulmate now of all times? Had it been waiting for him to give up trying to tell Logan how much he loved him? And now it had tied him to some other person he would never want to be with?</p><p>But there was no other explanation. It was a muted purple-grey cloud with a thin silvery moon in front of it and four stars in a sort of zig zag shape filling in the space where the rest of the moon would be, and a sort of navy blue smudge around the edges of the whole thing. Unless someone had tattooed it on him in the night, Surprise Soulmate was the only explanation.</p><p>After years of fighting society's prejudices against those without soulmates, and forging a relationship closer that anyone believed he should have with the one person who had ever understood him, Virgil had a soulmate. His most important defining feature, according to the rest of the world, had changed over night leaving Virgil completely lost.</p><p>What was he supposed to do?</p><p>Virgil was distantly aware that he was sitting on the bathroom floor, with his back to the wall, and his breathing was far to fast but also not fast enough. And all he could think was who even was he anymore?</p><p>He'd tried not to let his soul-status define him for so long but now it had changed how was he supposed to think of himself now?</p><p>Why had it happened?</p><p>And how would he tell Logan?</p><p>-----</p><p>Logan stared at his forearm, a litany of curses running through his head. It was unprecedented, completely illogical, that a soul mark should appear this late in life. That was the only reasonable explanation for the strange image of a cloud and celestial objects that had appeared on his arm.</p><p>Why, in the name of every scientist who had ever studied soul marks, himself included, did the universe refuse to give him a soulmate until after he had fully accepted himself as soulmate-less? He had completely settled into his life with Virgil, and was just starting to think maybe they could stay like this forever, and now this had happened. Fate had left him alone for so long, why was it paying attention to him now?</p><p>He felt like it invalidated every single struggle against prejudice and bigotry and self-loathing and fear he'd ever had to overcome. His entire life, Logan had struggled to be accepted by the rest of the world, but what was the point now? It felt like everything had been for nothing.</p><p>Even his friendship (or whatever it was) with Virgil had been built on the fact that they were both ostracised from society for the same reason. It was their mutual lack of soulmates that brought them together in the first place and the relationship had been built from there, and grown into so much more. And now Logan had to tell Virgil it was all a mistake because apparently the universe wanted Logan to be 'normal' after all.</p><p>There was a thud from the bathroom.</p><p>
  <em>Virgil!</em>
</p><p>Suddenly all thoughts of cosmic authority were gone as Logan rushed across the tiny apartment to the bathroom. The shower had stopped running but the gasping from inside instantly told Logan that Virgil was either having or about to have a panic attack.</p><p>"Virgil! Virgil! You need to breath. Can you hear me? Knock on the door if you can. Virgil?"</p><p>There came a single knock but the breathing didn't clam down.</p><p>"Ok I'm going to come in. Knock now if you don't want me to."</p><p>There was another knock and that only worried Logan more. It seemed Virgil would have been able to grab a towel to cover himself if he were indecent so Logan didn't know why he didn't want to let him in. But that wasn't the priority right now.</p><p>"Alright, I shall help you as best I can from out here. Just listen to my counting and try to breath in time."</p><p>For several minutes Logan just counted: to four, then to seven, then to eight, and start again, until eventually Virgil was able to breath in time with the counting. He didn't stop until he heard a very small "thanks L" through the door.</p><p>"Would it be alright if I came in now? I need to check that you are not injured in any manner."</p><p>"Nah, I'm ok Lo. Y-you gotta got to class soon." He took a very unsteady breath and Logan frowned.</p><p>"I am not so dedicated to punctuality that I would be comfortable leaving you alone after an anxiety attack. However, I can see that right now you wish to have some space, therefor I shall cease pestering you...but please note I will be willing to listen if and when you ever want to talk about what happened. I presume I shall see you at lunch as per usual?"</p><p>"Jeez Logan, you can just say "suit yourself" you know. But yeah I'll see ya later."</p><p>"Indeed. Ahem, "see ya"." Logan's words had a slight rising inflection as he wondered if that had been the correct use of the phrase. From Virgil's shaky chuckle from the bathroom, he surmised he must have been at least partially correct.</p><p>Logan left for class, knowing he would be worrying about his definitely-not-just-a-friend at least until lunchtime.</p><p>-----</p><p>Lunchtime arrived far quicker than Virgil would have liked. He sat on the bench in the tiny campus park, bouncing his leg in anticipation of Logan's inevitable questioning. The bouncing increased when he spotted said man making his way over with two takeaway coffees.</p><p>"If the anticipation of telling me what caused this morning's panic attack is so stressful, you do not have to tell me anything. It is no problem if this is too personal."</p><p>Virgil was surprised. "You know, Logan, for someone who claims to be bad at reading people, you can always tell exactly what I'm thinking."</p><p>"I suppose that is what happens when one live for someone for two years."</p><p>That sent a stab of guilt through him. This morning he'd woken up to a sure sign from the universe that he was destined to end up closer to someone else than he was with Logan. What would Logan say if he knew? Would he think Virgil had been lying all this time? Would he insist that they stop being...whatever they were? Was Virgil going to break his heart when he told him? Or maybe Logan wouldn't care at all. That would probably break Virgil's own heart.</p><p>Keeping it secret from him was out of the question: Logan would know Virgil was hiding something and would probably assume he had done something to upset him. Besides, communication was important in any relationship, including ones so undefined as theirs.</p><p>"Logan...something happened this morning-"</p><p>"Is anyone hurt, mentally, physically or emotionally? Including you?"</p><p>"N-no! Not really. No, not hurt just...ugh this is so hard. Right. Okay. I just got to say it. Okay." He took a deep breath, and then another for good measure. "LoganIhaveasoulmark!"</p><p>There was a pause.</p><p>"I just found it this morning when I was having a shower it must have appeared over night I'm sorry I don't know what to do I don't want a soulmate I...Logan?"</p><p>He had that face on that meant he was processing a lot of thoughts far too fast for Virgil to tell what he might be thinking. It was a long minute before he spoke.</p><p>"Virgil I have a hypothesis I wish to test but whatever the outcome I want you to know that this development does not have to signal a change in our relationship or dynamic whatsoever unless you wish it to. Do you understand?"</p><p>"Oh yeah thank God I thought you might hate me or something-"</p><p>"That is preposterous Virgil, I could never hate you. Now, please describe what this soul-mark looks like."</p><p>"I..um...okay. It's a purple cloud with a moon and some weird ass stars and a bit of blue around it...L? You ok there buddy?"</p><p>As Virgil had spoken, Logan had become somehow more stiff than usual.</p><p>"Did-" he swallowed. "Did it look like this?" Logan pushed up his shirt sleeve to show...a soul mark...exactly the same as the one on Virgil's shoulder.</p><p>"Oh my God! It is! Fucking hell, look!" Virgil shrugged off his hoodie turning away to show Logan the mark on his shoulder, not covered by his tank top. "Oh thank God! Thank fuck it's you! My best friend is my soulmate! My best.... Logan? What's wrong?"</p><p>As Virgil turned back he saw Logan's face. His whole expression had closed off, the pain and confusion somehow clear as day. He looked...heartbroken.</p><p>"Is that all we are?"</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Logan swallowed. "Are we just friends?"</p><p>"O-oh...well I didn't think...I thought we were...what else would we be?"</p><p>"I...well I guess I thought we might be...q-queer-platonic partners. We never discussed it and I wasn't sure but I thought it was supposed to be obvious and that was why we never said anything..." he trailed off. Virgil had never seen him so speechless.</p><p>"Oh. I...yeah I mean shit Lo, I love you, platonically I mean, but I thought maybe you didn't or you didn't want our relationship to have that label..."</p><p>"If I have ever done anything to make you think I don't love you in the same way then I sincerely apologise. You have been much more than just a "best friend" to me for a very long time. It seems as though we may have to seriously work on our communication."</p><p>"...oh..."</p><p>"And Virgil what part of my essay on the importance of labels and micro-labels was unclear to you?"</p><p>"Cut me some slack here! I'm not the rational one in this relationship."</p><p>"Quite. So, to confirm: we both love each other-"</p><p>"At this point I'm basically platonically <em>in</em> love with you L."</p><p>"We are both in love with each other platonically, we both desire to label our relationship as queer-platonic, and we are also now soulmates for whatever reason."</p><p>"And we're both idiots."</p><p>"Indeed. I believe the phrase would be "why are we like this", correct?"</p><p>Virgil snorted. "You've summed it up pretty well there L."</p><p>"In that case, I suggest that queer-platonic relationship should be how we describe...<em>this</em> and we should refer to each other as our queer-platonic partner, though I do think 'my person' has a nice ring to it, and a certain sappiness which I find quite appealing at the moment, if you are amiable?"</p><p>"'My person'. Sounds perfect, L."</p><p>"Satisfactory."</p><p>Virgil leant into Logan's side and took a sip of his now very cold coffee.</p><p>"I love you.</p><p>He spoke so quietly he wasn't sure Logan heard until he put and arm awkwardly around his shoulder, making Virgil tuck in closer beside him.</p><p>"I love you too." Logan murmured back.</p><p>The universe sighed fondly. A day's work well done.</p><p>~~*~~</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I love these two in a QPR so much. I hope you liked this, thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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